Monthly Archives: June 2011

5 children seriously ill from E. coli in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France

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At least five children were hospitalized for food poisoning of a rare type of E. coli in France. At least 4 of them had eaten frozen hamburgers sold by Lidl stores.

The serotype is not the same as in the German outbreak, according to authorities.

The 5 children are aged from 20 months to 8 years and one of them was hospitalized this weekend in a pediatric unit. All five victims had serious bloody diarrhea and suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome, explained Dr. Joëlle Perrin, medical advisor in the regional health agency.

Health authorities have identified that four of the five children ate frozen beef burgers from the Steaks Country brand sold in Lidl stores.
 

“Don’t eat raw sprouts. Thats the best advice for all of us”

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Those are Suzanne Havala Hobbs’ words in today’s Raleigh News and Observer. Suzanne is the director of the Doctoral Program in Health Leadership at UNC Chapel Hill.

I agree with her.

The Germany-centered E. coli O104:H4 outbreak will probably be touted as the tipping point for avoiding sprouts in Europe. Based on the illnesses and bodies that have been left behind from sprouts in the past, tipping point is an empty statement. 

Hobbs writes in her op-ed:

The problem with sprouts is that since the 1970s they have been linked to dozens of outbreaks (see our list here) of food-borne illness around the world. E. coli and salmonella contamination are the two most common causes.

Don’t eat raw sprouts. That’s the best advice for all of us. It’s especially true for the most vulnerable: young children, older adults and anyone with a weakened immune system.

Anticipate that raw sprouts may be served on burgers, sandwiches and in salads at restaurants. If they’re listed on the menu, ask that they be left off your food. If they show up on your plate anyway, remove them before eating your food.

In 2001, three people who became ill from a sprouts outbreak in four western states reported to investigators that they ate the food as it was promoted as a health food. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a renewed a call for Americans to avoid fresh alfalfa or other sprouts, and that people, particularly young children, the elderly and those with weak immune systems, should avoid eating raw sprouts. California Department of Health Services and the California Department of Education took notice and recommend that schools stop serving uncooked sprouts to young children. That was outbreak number 30.

Another eight  sprouts-linked outbreaks occurred and then 2005, when I was a graduate student at Guelph (that’s in Canada) over 640 individuals in Ontario (also in Canada) became ill with Salmonella Enteriditis linked to sprouts consumption. Investigators found birds and bird droppings in the seed storage area of the supplier and pointed to either seed source or environmental contamination as the likely source.

An additional four sprouts related outbreaks occurred between 2005 and a food safety conference I attended in Colorado in 2007. 

Sprouts were served on the salad in the lunch buffet.

Thirteen additional outbreaks have happened since then. We have to be at the tipping point now, right?
 

Gonzalo Erdozain: The only chicken on your table should be cooked chicken

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Who lets a chicken eat scones on a dining table?

Zoonotic dumbass Tori Spelling.

On the latest episode of Watch What Happens Live, a short clip from a new show that celebrity wannabe Tori Spelling is either part of, or makes an appearance has reinforced the fact that people in general have a poor understanding of the risks involved with animals in the transmission of zoonotic diseases.

Baby chicks and chickens have been linked to many salmonellosis outbreaks throughout the world. The most recent outbreak in the U.S., still ongoing, has already sickened 39 people in 15 states. Tori, cook the chicken or get it off the table.
 

Who serves raw milk to kids in grade 4; at least 16 sick

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At least 16 people have been sickened by an outbreak of foodborne illness which started at North Cape Elementary School in Wisconsin.

"We are in the process of doing an investigation," said Cheryl Mazmanian, director and health officer for the Western Racine County Health Department.

The incident apparently began about June 3 when a number of foods were served at a celebration for fourth-graders. Symptoms – diarrhea and similar gastrointestinal problems – were first reported about June 6, she said.

"Raw milk was served. We have not pinpointed it as that."

The 16 people infected includes family members who contracted the germs brought home from the school.

Mazmanian the public health type, actually said, As in similar cases, prevention comes down to washing hands and practicing good hygiene.

How about don’t serve raw milk to little kids?
 

The cured meat facial

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At one restaurant in Italy, pork and relaxation are one and the same—and you can even experience a mortadella facial.

The Atlantic reports the treatment consisted of deep breathing, eating, and drinking. Participants were served a plate of choice salumi—sliced prosciutto, culatello, salami, and Tuscan head cheese from Simone Fracassi. Then we were given large cloth napkins, to be placed over one’s head and the plate, deeply inhaling the porky perfumes, stimulating salivary glands and appetite. Remove napkin, taste salumi, and drink sparkling wine—Champagne, Italian sparklers, or Lambrusco. Then head for dinner. I felt renewed.

Main image: La Madia Travelfood/Gourmadia S.r.l.

Obvious outcome: fountain in US city used as toilet

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Officials in New London, Connecticut have turned off the water at the city’s new waterfront fountain over the weekend because people have been using it as a toilet.

The fountain was activated last month and features a sculpture of a whale’s tail with water spilling over it, which visitors are encouraged to run through.

City Councilor Michael Buscetto III tells The Day of New London that since the fountain opened, police have responded to calls of people urinating, defecating and showering in the fountain water. He said some people have also used the fountain to rinse off blood after cutting themselves.
 

Tragic: 2-year-old dies in German E. coli sprout outbreak

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A two-year-old boy on Tuesday became the first child to die in an outbreak of E. coli O104 in Germany, taking the death toll to at least 37.

Some 3,255 people have also fallen sick in 14 European countries plus the United States and Canada, according to the World Health Organisation. Of those, 782 are seriously ill with hemolytic uremic syndrome.

The agricultural ministry in Lower Saxony said Sunday that it is still not clear how sprouts from a farm in the state became contaminated with the bacteria.

"It is not clear whether an employee brought the bacteria into the company or whether it was brought in with seeds which then contaminated the worker," the ministry said in a statement.
 

Shigella outbreak in Kentucky causes pool scare

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A widening outbreak of shigella in northern Kentucky has residents keeping out of public swimming pools.

Eagle Country reports the Northern Kentucky Health Department says they’ve counted 74 cases, six of those in Boone County, as of June 7. The number of cases in an average year is 25.

The health department asks those who have been ill to stay out of the water for two weeks. Pools should also not allow non-potty trained children to be in them until further notice.

Some public pools, such as the Florence Aquatic Center, have closed while they undergo super chlorination.
 

Pseudoscience reigns at UK food agency

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The food safety bureaucrats who say cook food until it’s piping hot have come out with an entire publication about what it means to be science-based.

The U.K. Food Standards Agency says science is fighting back against pseudoscience and asks whether the Agency has played a role in this.

For an agency with multi-millions to spend on food safety communication, why can’t they get the science right, and stick it in?

Use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer. Color and piping hot are pseudoscience.
 

Sewing needle found in lettuce in Toronto

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A two−inch sewing needle was found pierced into the spine of lettuce in a Toronto grocery store, specifically Andy Boy Romaine lettuce hearts.

The Toronto Police Service advises the public to use caution and check any pre−packaged lettuce for foreign objects.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416−808−4100, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com , text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook.